How much of our fate is in our hands?
Silent Rituals: Superstitions and the Construction of Cultural Meaning
When I was leaving home after the holidays, my family quietly sat down with me in our entryway before my departure. In these few seconds of silence, I suddenly realized how peculiar this scene would be to someone who isn't Russian. To us, however, this ritual is a regular practice before a journey, one which ensures safety and good fortune, warding off bad omens along the way.
A moment of silence before a journey…
…anchors good luck and wards off ill omens
Superstitions are beliefs that link certain actions or items to outcomes that defy logical or scientific explanations. For centuries, people have sought to give meaning to unpredictable events and impose order on the uncertainties of life. While seemingly irrational, they have served as critical tools for the construction of meaning and cultural continuity. Superstitions linger into the modern era of rationality and scientific reason despite our seemingly advanced capacity to comprehend the world around us. But what is it about these relics of the past that gives them such enduring power?
I was raised in a culture that is filled with superstitious beliefs. From avoiding whistling indoors to spitting over your left shoulder, Russians have an abundance of symbolic practices aimed at preventing ill omens or, by contrast, inviting good luck. Before, I would not have called myself a superstitious person as I never noticed the presence of these rituals in my daily life until I moved abroad. I quickly came to realize that most Western cultures do not share the same level of belief in supernatural forces as we do. So, I started catching myself doing these things unconsciously, without giving it any thought. Whenever I forget something and have to return home, I instinctively make sure to look in the mirror before leaving again to prevent myself from having a bad day. I also never pass objects over a door threshold or sit at a table corner, since I want to get married one day after all. These simple yet profound acts carry an invisible thread that binds me to my culture and its shared past. Though seemingly trivial, they hold a significant meaning in our collective psyche.
Clifford Geertz’s foundational perspective of culture shaped my understanding of superstitions as a cultural phenomenon. In the Interpretation of Cultures he argues that culture is a system of inherited meanings expressed through symbolic forms, which enables people to communicate and perpetuate their understanding of life. As such, Geertz describes culture as a lens through which individuals and societies construct and transmit meaning.
Superstitions fit seamlessly into this interpretation, as they are symbolic practices that imbue everyday actions and objects with shared meaning, offering explanations rooted in tradition and collective memory rather than empirical reasoning. They act as a critical tool for the construction of meaning by providing explanations to the inexplicable and helping individuals navigate complex realities. An itchy palm is no longer a simple sensation but a prelude to financial gain, while a sneeze during conversation becomes a confirmation of truthfulness. By interpreting superstitions as part of this symbolic web, we can understand their persistence not as a failure of rationality but as a mechanism of continuity embedded in our ancestry and tradition.
An unexpected itchy palm…
…is a prelude to financial gain
The prominence of superstitions in Russian culture is rooted in centuries of pagan traditions, folklore, and Orthodox Christianity. What we now know as superstitions initially emerged as tools for navigating life’s many uncertainties. For hundreds of years, Russia faced constant social, economic, and political upheaval, leaving many feeling lost in the face of change. In such times, people sought to find refuge in what is clear and definitive. Similarly to the belief that knocking on wood will ward off bad luck, people held onto superstitious beliefs for a sense of comfort and control in times of widespread social struggle. Over the centuries, superstitions have evolved to address both our psychological and social needs, becoming deeply embedded within the collective psyche. They have woven themselves into the intricate fabric of Russian cultural identity, reflecting the complex process of historical continuity. Even today, they persist, enduring human desires for meaning and stability in an unpredictable world.
Superstitions also fit into Geertz’s conception of culture as something public rather than private. “Though unphysical, it is not an occult entity,” - culture transcends individual thought and behavior to exist within shared meanings and collective practices. It resides in the symbols, rituals, and actions understood collectively, carrying layers of meaning beyond the surface. In this way, culture functions as a language - a system of symbols that is meaningful only because it is communal. Similarly, superstitions are not isolated beliefs but communal rituals encoded in the collective consciousness of a group. Their ability to seamlessly flow from generation to generation also attests to their shared nature. Just as my parents taught me not to whistle in the house, I am certain that my future home will also abide by the same rules. The public enactment of superstitions transforms them into enduring traditions and ensures their symbolic significance is preserved within our cultural fabric.
In November, I visited Bekhbaatar Ekhtur’s solo exhibition Hearsay at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin. Intertwining faith and fallibility, his ephemeral sculptures use the symbol of a shooting star to reflect on the absurdity of superstitions. Stars, much like belief systems, invite humans to find shapes in their constellations, future in the alignment, or a chance to make a wish in their descent. Hearsay reflected on the human tendency to project representational forms onto the familiar and the ordinary. It made me question the different ways in which we attempt to explain the world around us or gain control over it. Why do we resist the unknown, weaving symbols and superstitions to impose order on chaos? Perhaps it is not nature we fear, but our own insignificance within it.
Flowers gifted in odd numbers whisper blessings…
…even numbers are reserved for mourning the departed